Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Turnaround Time

5 Reasons Why the Cornell Game Could Erase all the Bad Mojo from Harvard

1) This is the historic 100th meeting between the two Ivy League schools in New York and history is a big part of what makes Ivy football special. They officially dubbed this annual matchup the "Empire State Bowl" in 2010 complete with a lovely glass bowl/trophy. Trophies are cool.

2) It's Senior Day, and Columbia has won the final home game of the year each of the last four seasons. I don't know how many seniors will actually get to play or even dress for the game, but I hope there will be more than just a passing recognition of their contribution and commitment to the team. How about seeing QB Sean Brackett tearing it up in his final home game of his brilliant career? Winning the game Saturday with those seniors in tow would be almost as sweet as the 69-0 loss to Harvard was sour.

3) Cornell QB Jeff Mathews is an NFL-bound player who is getting a super amount of deserved attention in the media. Defeating him would get a lot of press, maybe even more than the huge loss to Harvard did.

4) One of the best things about the 2012 season has been the emergence of RB Marcorus Garrett as a legitimate star runner. It's been a very long time since the Lions had one of those. It no longer looks like he can get to 1,000 yards rushing this season, but 900 yards is within reach. Cornell has a porous run defense and Garrett could have a very big day, which would put him in historic territory in the Columbia record book.

5) Think of it: The Empire State Bowl taking place as much of New York is still recovering from Super Storm Sandy. A Columbia win would really personify the spirit or perseverance in this very damaged city.

watch, first series the seniors score and then are pushed to the bench for the developmental players.if i were a senior who wasnt allowed to dress and i got on the field the first series i would be full speed right at my own coach. and remind him this isnt for the faint of heart.

The BR game could be very important for the team, the coaches, and us supporters. If it's competitive, there's much hope for the program. Bouncing back after the disaster is essential, much like for storm victims.

For the seniors who have stuck with the program for four years, attended practices when they knew they were going to watch the games from the stands, anything short of being honored at their last home game in uniform would be such a mistake that I don't believe it would happen. If proven wrong, next year's Giving Day will yield CU absolutely nothing. For those that care to answer, do you believe the seniors (only the seniors)deserve to dress for every home game? I do, but am curious about others takes on the topic.

Why was the Harvard score so bad? The offense gave away 35 points in two fumbles and three interceptions. Columbia had -19 yards net rushing offense. I don't quite understand why so many commenters are promoting a quarterback with the worst completion rate in the Ivy League (52.1%) and with more interceptions (8) than TDs (5). What about Harvard's gift on the three yard line before the half? Two passes were not even close to the receivers.

Video and Audio Feeds. How can a university with such credentials do such a horrible job with video and audio broadcasts? We could not hear half of the Harvard game (we purchased the Harvard video feed). We had to continually log in. For the home games, the first quarter is always buffered. And the Yale game archive has so much buffering that it is not worth watching. I thought that it was my internet or location, but it appears to be same for everyone with whom I have discussed the problem. Good gosh, high school teams have better feeds than that.

Communication. Why is it that Jake is the only communication that we can get on the football program? There is nothing from the University; what do all of these support people do? There are no injury, suspension, violations of team rules or grade problem reports. It sure would eliminate some of the harping to know what is really going on.

Coaches. I will leave that subject to you old timers. But if getting up at 4:30 was so beneficial, why don't more teams do it? Coach has the players in suites with other athletes who don't respect the early to bed needs of the football players. Players are just not getting enough sleep.

Sorry, this is a lot more negative than I intended. I apologize. This is my first comment, so I don't understand the identity business. New Guy

The problem with this orgy of negativity is that it is becoming self destructive. For the next two Saturdays let's out away the long knives and try to be supportive of our players. Since Dianne doesn't read this blog, and I doubt that Pete does, and I am certain that Lee doesn't even know that it exists, let's remember that our audience here is limited to the people who,actually care about the players and the program. The last thing that the players need after being humiliated last weekend is another cri de couer. I expect to be out there on Saturday cheering on our guys with whatever these old lungs can muster.

I am so SICK of everyone blaming the administration, lack of facilities, and every other social issue as to why we are losing. The coaching is horrendous! Norries actually recruited good players, just bad coaches. Shoop just shot himself! Tellier ONLY passes the "nice guy" test because he was a LOUSY coach. Now we have Mangurrian, with all of his hype and hoopla, and he's shown us nothing but contempt and arrogance (referencing his demeanor at press conferences, not dressing seniors, and his poor coaching - Fordham, Dartmouth, and Yale games). He had better dress the seniors or he will be a one and out coach!

If you are really efficient with your time and studies and can get to bed at 9 and fall asleep by 930, and those are huge ifs, you will get 7 hrs sleep. That is physiologically insufficient for a 20 yr old athlete day in and day out. I can tell you for a fact that many on this team are flat out exhausted. Need to streamline process and get them at least another hour in am. Chronic sleep deprivation is nasty! Bad for athletic performance and bad for academics. This isn't about commitment. It's simple physiology.

I never understood the early morning routine, who or what does that actually help. Hey, let's go get a headache at 7 am and not be able to focus the rest of the day, brilliant! This isn't the NFL.How can a coach be arrogant when his only job offer is CU?Tellier-the guy did bring professionalism to the program, which was missing for years. Tellier wasn't a lousy coach, he had lousy talent he inherited for several years.Let's face it, until people, outside the current big wigs, call for a legitimate coach or at a minimum somebody who cares, we aren't going to win. Let's build a few more buildings to the columbia modern day gods and suck in the process. How about getting a legit recruiting coordinator, serious coordinators, hire somebody to organize and implement a job tree for the kids...all of which make the school more attractive and easier to recruit. Yet, we sit here like conan where our crown sits upon a troubled brow!

Like it or not, like him or not, he did some impressive things at Cornell and he has an extensive NFL background.

Why are you burying him for trying the early practice routine? Part of coaching is trying different things to see if they work and adjusting if they don't. I am sure he will evaluate it at the end of the season and either continue or adjust. By the end of next year we'll all know if the team is showing real improvement or not. Good point that it must be difficult if your suite mates do not exactly honor the early lights out policy, though...

John Chaney practiced at 5 AM when he was at Temple, incidentally, just saying...

I'm disappointed in last week's results, disappointed in the season, and disappointed he doesn't seem to be terribly interested in working the public, but it is just too early to judge him.

I feel for the Seniors, but blame Norries for not getting it done. Had he won more games the seniors would be playing more. Mangurian has to look to the future now or he'll be writing his own dismissal soon enough... I know emotionally it must be difficult if you are close to one of those seniors but that is the reality of a new coach at most any program... It is never easy to tell a kid he can't suit up but I just hope he treated them with respect and dignity throughout the season...

I also know as a former player and fan I am so sick of losing and disgusted with the admins ineptitude I am ready to explode....

I would dress all Seniors this week to show them respect for the many years of hard work and dedication to the program.

I said it before but McElreavy treated our senior class with contempt and it took many of us 20 years before we came back to the program...

Jake, do you think the staff and/or admin has someone reading your blog?

Also, does the new coaching staff has as much of a disdain for you as Norries' did? Not trying to be a wiseguy but you had mentioned a few times how much they resented you in the past... wondering if the new staff gets that this forum could be an asset to them if they played it right....

WOF, You are so right it was an embarassment, but please give this Coach a chance! You are also right in saying you are about to explode...we all are.But some anomymous posters are getting carried away, especially the post above who writes he would go full speed right at his coach.If you think that is setting any example for players reading this,you are out of touch.That does not help the locker room, and it sure does not help to build chartacter and morale.Thank god we all don't think as you do,it won't get us anywhere.

My question, and I think it's a reasonable one, is how last years's halftime 14-14 tie and 35-21 final became 69-0 this year. We lost some very good seniors, but the squad wasn't decimated. What's the difference - skill level, morale, bad luck, coaching?

WOF, I think you're assuming that's a rhetorical question and I blame the coaches. It's not (although that might be a bit of unconscious projection on your part?). Yes, these things happen, although not often to this extent. But that's no reason to ignore the question. Why not try to learn something from that debacle that could help in the future? I didn't watch the webcast, so I have no idea.

Esq......I was there. I'm not sure on our best day and Harvard's worst, we make a game of it. They are that good. As mentioned previously, they were bigger, faster and much more skilled then us. That being said, I think the margin would have been slightly more acceptable if we had stayed the course longer with Brackett at the helm and hadnt dug such a big hole the first half where we were forced to throw vs using our usually reliable ground game.The fresh qb was put in a difficult spot, threw some bad passes but honestly our o- line was getting manhandled so there wasnt alot of time even if the qb was RG3. I'm putting that game in the past and expect a much better effort this Saturday.

The O-line was the main issue last year, along with all the injuries. Then, we were playing 3rd and 4th string at some O-line spots. Of course Adams graduated, but Ward was all-league, too, and he returned. And one of this year's missing recruits is a 3-star center rated for high Div I. How could H's line play have improved so much and ours declined so much to make such a big difference, especially since Argast is stll our line coach. If the O-line was the difference, it sure was an odd choice to lift the running QB and replace him with a pro-style drop-back guy with little college experience. Could Mangurian have punted the game to make a point with his players? If so, it wouldn't be the first time a coach did that. After this game, last year's team appears to have had better resilience despite the injuries and losing. It's all just peculiar and disquieting. Maybe Saturday will show it to be an aberration, like last year's Dartmouth game? Sure hope the guys can bounce back like they did then.